Attracting, Onboarding and Ensuring Success for the Next Generation of Building Maintenance Professionals (BOMA 2024)

In today's rapidly evolving real estate landscape, attracting and retaining skilled building maintenance professionals has become a significant challenge. The urgency of this issue is highlighted by alarming statistics showing a decline in the availability of these workers. At the 2024 BOMA International Conference and Expo in Philadelphia, a Sunday morning panel discussion focused on this critical problem, providing practical, in-depth insights and immediately actionable solutions.

Moderated by Marc Fisher, head honcho at InspiRE CRE, the session, “Attracting, Onboarding and Ensuring Success for the Next Generation of Building Maintenance Professionals,” featured an esteemed panel, including Brad Harrison, operations manager at Howard Hughes Holdings; Lauren Rosa, director of operations and employee experience at Thomas Park; Margaret Evans, VP of Healthcare Property Management; and Rob Berger, regional operations director for GSH Group, who offered valuable tips and out-of-the-box ideas for finding and keeping buildings maintenance staff. “It’s a great career path for someone who doesn’t want to go to college but enjoys working with their hands,” noted Beger at the start of the session. “It’s rewarding to find someone who doesn’t know what they want to do  and lead them to a successful career.”

What Makes a Good Candidate?

One might think that the best job seekers are the ones who are right out of trade school with the specific skills needed for a maintenance job, like HVAC. However, several of the panelists agreed that “it’s the small things” that often make all the difference, as Rosa pointed out. For example, she and Berger suggested asking questions like:

• Can they communicate well?
• Are they problem solvers?
• Do they show up on time?
• Do they ask the right questions?
• Can they find the right information when needed?
• Are they willing and able to do the job?
• Can they work in a high-ambiguity environment?

“I look for the intangibles,” Berger said, while Evans echoed by saying “the biggest thing is personality.” Rosa noted that many hiring managers can miss a “diamond in the rough” because their resumes aren’t perfect, which is OK. It’s about the soft skills, and “anyone who’s worked in customer service is a great option” because they’ve worked with people who can often be demanding, Evans added.

Fischer asked the audience to close their eyes and picture the ideal building engineer and what skills they possess. He noted that many in the room were likely envisioning someone older and experienced, but that’s based on a model from the past. How many are looking for a candidate that’s going to be equipped to deal with tomorrow’s challenges?

Attracting, Onboarding and Training Talent: Thinking Outside the Box

The majority of people graduating from trade schools don’t even consider a career in building engineering and maintenance, because many aren’t aware of it as a viable career path, the panelists agreed. “The days of recruiting the technician from next door are over,” Evans asserted. “We need to think outside the box and bring in people you wouldn’t normally expect.”

For example, several of the panelists offered anecdotes of successful hires who were discovered in the most unlikely of places, such as one candidate who previously worked at Burger King, another who was a Safelite AutoGlass repair technician, and even a toll booth collector. Because technical skills can be taught fairly easily, and as Harrison explained, “The key thing is identifying those who have soft skills, recognizing them and coming up with a development plan for them and to keep them passionate about the job.”

Berger said he’s visited local high schools to talk to students who may not want to attend college but have a skill set and to have a conversation with them, bring them onboard after graduation and train them. But the training doesn’t stop there. It starts with onboarding on day one and should continue throughout their career.

While formal training can be expensive, Berger noted, “you can’t afford not to train your people,” a point Evans emphasized by saying, “There’s nothing more dangerous than a building technician that thinks they know something but really don’t.”

The panelists suggested that unions, vendors and even local utilities or government organizations can help offset the cost of continuously training staff—and don’t forget in-house training that can be done without additional costs. Further, training needs to be incorporated into annual budgets and scheduled regularly. Harrison noted that in today’s environment, work-life balance is important, and many employees may not be able to or want to attend evening classes. “People want to be with their families,” he said. “Give them their time back and let them train during work hours. They’re happier,” he said, adding that they’ll be less likely to leave.

Rosa noted that hiring in the industry is challenging right now, but continuous communication is important to make new hires feel valued—which is especially important with younger generations. “If people don’t feel like you care, they won’t stay,” she noted.

Evans said it’s important to set a tone of professionalism early and model the behavior for them, which engenders a sense of loyalty. Harrison added he doesn’t want to lose contact with a new hire and checks in regularly during onboarding to make sure they’re getting the help they need.

Ensuring a new hire has all of the tools and training they need is essential for bringing them onboard successfully and keeping them as part of the maintenance and engineering teams.